Page 66 of Swamp Princess

Tears spring to the woman's eyes as she looks at Haven. She knows what she's saying is true, and she knows she has influence to do it. “You would destroy my business over a swamp rat?”

“She's not a swamp rat, she's my friend and you messed up when you decided to judge before you got all the information.” Haven grabs my hand and yanks me out of the store. “Don't worry, I have a few other stories in mind. This was actually just the first stop; there's actually more, much better.”

I groan out loud. I'm not a shopper, I hate shopping and literally avoid it unless there's something that I actually need. “How long are you planning for this shopping excursion to be?”

Her smile scares me and the little chuckle she gives scares me even more. “Only a few hours. I want to make sure that we have the perfect dress, and I'm also going to get you some shoes and some jewelry to go with it.”

I pull her to a stop and face me. “Haven, you really don't have to do this for me.” I'm not trying to hurt her feelings, but I think she'd be spending too much money on me and I feel bad that I can't offer her the same.

“Stop overthinking everything, Brinley. You're my best friend and the closest thing I have to a sister. I know we don't get to spend much time together and with you fighting with my brother, it's hard for you to come over to my house, but no matter what, you're always there.”

I don't exactly believe her because I don't feel like we spend enough time together, but this is something that she wants to do, so this is something that I'm willing to do for her.

“Fine, wherever you wanna take me, I will go, but nothing too expensive, please.”

* * *

Haven and I have been shopping all day long and I'm ready to pull out my hair. She found the most perfect dress in gold that brings out her dark hair and the color of her eyes. Every dress that I have tried on, she said wasn't good enough for me.

The third store we met is actually my favorite. I've tried on about fifteen different dresses and none of them seem to make her smile.

“I know you want to be finished but I just don't think that dress looks good on you.” The dress I currently have on is a dark purple with enough tulle to fill another fabric store. Sighing, I take off the dress and hand it to the sales associate. I go back into the dressing room and try on the red one which I already know she's not going to like because it offsets my skin, making it look a little blotchy.

Stepping out and getting the same reaction, she tells me no. “Haven, can I please just take one of them, so we can go?”

“No, I want it to be perfect because you're so beautiful, and I want something to actually highlight your beautiful features. Please, just do this for me.”

When she asks me like that, I can't tell her no, so I relent and go back in. By the final dress, I think I've had it until I pull it out of its bag. It is a gorgeous burnt brown color with a light sparkle and a tight corset bodice with little diamonds.

I can barely breathe when I look at myself in the mirror with this dress on, with my hair done and makeup on, I know that I will look like a whole different person, and it almost makes me want to cry. I never imagined that I could look so wonderful in a dress, and I feel self-conscious right away.

Stepping out, I keep my head down but I hear the intake of breath from Haven. “Oh, my God, Brinley, you look stunning. This is the dress for you.”

I look up at her smiling and pleased that she likes it just as much as I do. “I really think so, too. There's never going to be anything that I can do to make this up to you.”

She swats her hand in front of her face and smiles at me. “You being my friend is enough. Enough with this nonsense now, we need to have matching accessories” She turns to the saleswoman and orders off a list of things that she once found that matches the dress and soon, the ladies are working to get everything that would go with this dress.

“Before you have a heart attack, I want you to go outside while I pay for everything.” She shoos me outside and as much as I want to stay in there and see how much everything is, I decide against it because the feeling of guilt for her buying me all this stuff is already a heavy stone in the bottom of my stomach.

When she finally does come out, she is empty-handed. “Where is everything?”

“I’ll have it delivered to the school because I know you won't come to my house to get ready. My brother is going to be going to the school as well and will be picking us up in your room.” I start to protest against that when she holds up her hand. “I know you don't like him but he's not going to let me go to the dance by myself. His mannerisms prevent him for allowing me to go without an escort, and since I'm not dating anybody, he is going to be my escort.”

“I don't have an escort.” I figure with my hands in front of me as I think about how I was going to ask Blaise to be mine, but he barely talks to me and at this point, I don't want him to be my escort.

“I'm sorry, Brinley.” Haven doesn't really know what to say to me and I can't blame her for that. Most people probably expect me not to come with an escort which means I'll just be left with my dance partner and whoever decides to dance with the swamp rat after the main waltzes.

“Don't be, I'm not expecting somebody to come and sweep me off my feet.” A black town car pulls up in front of us and Haven indicates that we should get in.

“What happened with you and Blaise, anyway?”

“Honestly, I don't know. Everything was going fine for the longest time and as soon as he got here, he decided that somebody from across the tracks was not good enough for him anymore. I never thought that it would happen, us having a separation, but I guess when he has other plans and a better future in mind, I'm no longer a part of that dream.”

I'm starting to get uncomfortable, and I really don't want to keep talking about Blaise. I think she can tell because she falls silent as well. We make part of the drive-in silence until she turns to me.

“I have a dream myself, and that is far away from here. In my world, people think money is the answer to everything and that women are the supporting roles who breed other men to take over their company, or other little girls who will go up and be that supporting partner for their future husband. I don't want that for myself.”

I place my hand in hers and look at her. “What do you want out of life? Where do you see yourself after you graduate from here?”

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